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In brief: Hitachi facing first loss in 50 years

Hitachi is the latest victim of Asian flu, and expecting a $1.67 billion pre-tax loss. The Japanese giant said 4,000 jobs will go in a worldwide restructuring that will freeze spending, slash research and development and centralise decision making.

Plummeting demand for Dram memory chips is causing it to lose significant amounts of money in the semiconductor division. There is a similar story in the integrated graphics and memory chips unit, which is suffering from poor market development. The consumer products division has been a lossmaker for several years.

The cost of the restructuring is forecast at Yen170 billion, almost exactly the pre-tax profit forecast earlier this year, and planned cutbacks include cancelling Yen80 billion in investments and Yen30 billion in research and development.